The Niagara News is the community newspaper of Niagara College located in Welland and Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada. It is created and produced by the students of the Niagara College Journalism program.

Niagara College Nerds and Geeks club back for another year of fun and gaming

Niagara College Student Administrative Council (NCSAC) Nerds and Geeks is back for its fifth year at the college.

The club held its first Game Night of the semester on Sept. 14 at the Welland campus as a way to begin discussing who will be running the group this year.

The new president, vice-president and treasurer were decided on the following Game Night on Sept. 21. Nenad Milenkovic stepped up to be this year’s president, Darryl Sourwine the vice-president and Briena Tofflemire the treasurer.

The club will be holding its weekly Anime Night Thursday’s at 5:30 p.m. in AH141 and Game Night Friday’s at 6 p.m. in AH161.

The club will be on display at the upcoming Club Fair later this month.

Students who have been a part of the club for years are excited for this upcoming year of events and activities.

“It’s nice to come after class to wind down and see friends,” said Zachary Shade, a third-year Computer Programmer – Analyst.

Jessie Richer, a student in the Early Childhood Education program, explained that she joined the club because she liked being able to play and talk video games with other students who have similar interests.

Former treasurers Truus Vrugteveen and Natalie McCartney explained that a lot of the events from previous years will continue, including the Halloween and Christmas-related events. Details on when and where these events will be are still undecided and will be announced on the Facebook group page.

The club was founded by a group of students who collectively enjoyed video games and were inspired to run events based on their mutual interests.

“It came down to ‘hey, we can rent college rooms and the college will give us money for our events, so why not do it?” said Neil Hamon, an alumnus and former vice-president who helped start up the club.

In the first year, the NCSAC Nerds and Geeks grew from six or seven members to almost 150.

“Back in the day we would be camped out with all of our geeky stuff on display. Someone would set up their laptop and we’d have all of our 3Ds playing smash on somebody’s monitor. It could get pretty crazy sometimes,” said Stacey Bulmer, another former treasurer.

A lot of the club members have stuck together and remain an active part of the group even after graduating. Hamon explained that a lot of the people who get involved love the club and the people and so they stick around.

“It’s definitely one of those things that if you’re involved with it, it’s probably the best part of Niagara College” said Hamon.

“We made really great friendships. I was a student for two years and we had some good times,” said Bulmer.